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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. present — a gift
  3. ground — a position
  4. hand — help
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. present — there
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. chip — to eat
  15. ground — crushed
  16. kid — to tease
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. present — the time now
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. foot — a measure
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. ground — the earth
  24. chip — for betting

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com